They wouldn’t hire me—Now I teach employers about ableism. SHRM Linkage Institute Keynote Excerpt.
Repeated rejections by hiring managers once fed the corrosive lie that disabled people lack value. My younger self carried that fear. But as my understanding of ableism grew, I began transforming those painful job searches into anecdotes that deliver insights, build connection, and even spark laughter.
This clip is from my keynote at the 2025 SHRM Linkage Institute. Thank you, Linkage, for inviting me to guide HR leaders in real workplace change. When organizations invest in accessibility, they become stronger, more resilient, and more innovative.
To disabled job seekers: resist the ableist tales. Trust in your worth. Believe in your value!
Jump to heading#Descriptive Transcript
Haben Girma stands behind a tall, small circular table that holds a bottle of water and her BrailleNote Touch. The stage has a blue backdrop, and she happens to be wearing a light blue and white dress. The right half of the screen shows a photo of her talking with President Barack Obama at the White House. President Obama is standing across from Haben at a small table, typing on a white keyboard. Haben is on the other side of the table reading his words on a BrailleNote Apex. President Joe Biden, Valerie Jarrett, and several other people stand nearby watching the conversation.
Haben: Deafblindness is not my biggest barrier. My biggest barrier is ableism.
The right side of the screen changes to a slide displaying the word “Ableism” in large white letters against a dark blue background.
Haben: In college, a lot of my classmates were getting summer internships and summer jobs to get a sense of what they wanted to do with the rest of their lives. But no one wanted to hire me. I shared this with one of my friends. I shared that I was struggling to find work, and they told me, “I know where you can get a job… Alaska.”
(Laughter)
Haben: Well, I really wanted a job. And they were right! Before I even set foot in Alaska, I was hired to work as a tour guide for the Capitol building in Juneau, Alaska. I studied up on Alaskan history. I learned the facts of the Capitol building. And on the first day, a manager pulled me aside and said it was a mistake to hire you.
I was shocked. They knew about my deafness, and I told them about the supports I would use, and they seemed so supportive and understanding. I told them that I was Black and my parents are from Eritrea and Ethiopia. They knew all of this going in. So what happened? I asked the manager, “Are you firing me because I’m blind?”
She said, “No, it’s because you’re from California.”
(Laughter)
Haben: So once again I was looking for work, but this time I was stuck in Alaska.
(Laughter)
Haben: And there were lots of job openings because of the tourism industry. So many people go to Juneau to see the glacier, the whales. And I sent applications for the jobs. Employers were impressed with my grades in school, my volunteer experiences. They’d call me in for interviews, but as soon as they found out I was disabled, they’d come up with all kinds of excuses not to hire me. They assumed I couldn’t do the job.
But there was one manager who asked, “How would you do the job?” I told her. She listened, and she hired me to work the front desk of her small gym in Juneau, Alaska. That summer, I learned a lot about gym equipment.
(Laughter)
Haben: One day a woman came up to the front desk and she said the treadmill wasn’t working. I followed her to the treadmill.
Haben lifts her hands and begins miming the actions she describes.
Haben: I felt the machine from top to bottom. Near the bottom there was a switch. I flipped the switch and the machine whirred to life.
(Laughter)
Haben: She told me, “Oh my goodness, I didn’t see that switch!”
(Laughter)
Haben: I told her, “I didn’t see it either.”
(Laughter)
Haben: Sometimes tactile techniques beat visual techniques. Our differences can be our assets.
The video cuts to Haben seated in a white armchair with her Braillenote in her lap. Across from her Liz Brunner, a woman in a green dress, sits in a white armchair typing on a wireless keyboard placed on a table in front of her. In the foreground, several rows of audience members appear standing and applauding.
Haben (reading out loud what Liz types): They are applauding!
Liz (voicing enthusiastically while typing): Yes! And they are standing!